


Sephirot (סְפִירוֹת)

by Anonymous



Category: Jewish Scripture & Legend, זֹהַר | Zohar, ספר יצירה | Sefer Yetzirah | Book of Creation, קַבָּלָה | Kabbalah | Judaic Mysticism
Genre: Esoterica, Exegesis, Judaism, Litany, Mysticism, Other, Religion, Ritual, spirituality, אין סוף | Ayn Sof, בינה | Binah, גבורה | Gevurah, דעת | Da'at, הוד | Hod, חכמה | Chokhmah, חסד | Chesed, יסוד | Yesod, כתר | Keter, מלכות | Malkuth, נצח | Netzach, סְפִירוֹת | Sephirot, עברית | Hebrew, שכינה | Shekinah, תפארת | Tiferet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-22
Updated: 2014-01-22
Packaged: 2018-01-09 16:45:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1148364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of poems covering the nature of the Sephirot, one of the foundations of the Kabbalah</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. מלכות | Malkuth | שכינה | Shekinah

I am nothing to them.  
A slip of girl with my hair still plaited,  
even if it has been woven  
into an elaborate crown.

I am nothing to them.  
An unseeable thing swathed in layers of lace and chiffon so thick,  
someone must lead me by the hand  
else I stumble on my way to the altar.

I am nothing to them.  
A commodity bartered away for the bride's price,  
a tenuous alliance which holds  
only so long as there are sons to carry the family name.

I am nothing to them.  
As I willingly spread myself before a stranger I call husband,  
despite the humiliation of my blood staining the bedsheets  
hung from the window with dawn's first light for all to see.

I am everything to them.

Without me, there would be no _bechor_ ,  
no firstborn sons to bear their name.  
No _benai mitzvot_ to sit beside them  
in studious contemplation of _Torah_.

Without me, there would be no warmth  
at the hearth to which they return home each day,  
no gateway to the mysteries of union  
which no man can know without woman.

I am everything to them.  
I am Shekinah.


	2. נצח | Netzach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Modeled after ["כי אנו עמך | Ki Anu Amecha"](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K05npNxa8lg), the litany which is sung each year in observance of יוֹם כִּפּוּר | Yom Kippur.

We persist  
We remain  
We continue  
We exist

We survive  
We endure  
We overcome  
We thrive

We are relentless  
Everlasting  
Eternal  
We are endless

We will be triumphant  
Reclaimed  
Delivered  
We will be exultant

Victorious, we persist.  
Netzach.


End file.
